With a loss so great it almost made him lose faith in himself, Ash was in dire need of help. Two familiar legendaries help get him back to his feet, along with the help of his companion, Dawn. With the support from his friends, family, and all of his pokemon, can Ash defeat his stoic rival and be known as victorious in the Sinnoh League? Smarter and more mature Ash. Pearl/Alto. AU.

Hey guys, Jay1414 here with another chapter to this story. Sorry for my absence, but work has been kicking my ass recently. Nevertheless, I just had to sit down and get this chapter done.

Anyways, I hope you are all doing well, and that you enjoy the chapter!

Pokemon Moves

"Normal Speech"

'Poke Speech'

'Thoughts'

"Sapphire's Speech"

Last time on Reason:

In a flash, an all black Altaria was all up in Quilava's space, leaving slash after slash on his poor complexion, leaving several marks on his body and face, as smoke seemed to release itself from where her ears should be. Relentlessly, the flying type continued to bash the unsuspecting fire type with everything she could, as her mind seemed to be lost in a fury of rage and anguish.

"Why is she so aggressive all of a sudden?" Ash asked his opponent nervously, cringing at the sounds of his buddy being torn to pieces.

"H-her pelt, she hates it w-when her pelt gets dirty," the older male attempted to explain. "Even when it only gets smudged, she gets very annoyed. But when it gets super dirty, she gets into a fit. This, this complete destruction of her pelt color might have just made her lose it for real!"

The raven haired teen could only gulp, as his fire type continued to be pummeled mercilessly. "Quilava, try to use Prote-" He cut himself off when he realized the fire type was on the ground out cold, a giant comical looking bruise on the top of his head. "...Nevermind."

"Quilava is unable to battle! Altaria is the winner! Ash, please send out your next pokemon!"

"Arceus that was brutal. Quilava, return buddy. Sorry you had to deal with...that, I'll get a special meal for you tonight, how does that sound?" Ash said sheepishly, only to grin when the fire type gave a drowsy thumbs up before being sent back into his capsule. Putting the ball back on his belt, he put a finger on his chin for a couple moments, before snapping his fingers in satisfaction as he knew exactly who to call out to deal with this moody Altaria.

"Bayleef, let's go!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Chapter 20: A Blast from the Past: Part Three

The energetic grass type appeared within a moment's notice, turning around and cooing to her trainer, before turning back around and facing her opponent, who was thrashing around as if she had lost every sense of her being.

"Bayleef vs Altaria! Ash has the first move! Battle, begin!"

"Alright, Bayleef start this off with a Sweet Scent!" Ash ordered. The dinosaur pokemon complied with a smile, emitting a soft, angelic aroma from the leaves growing around her neck, effectively covering the battlefield as well as her opponent in a strong scent that lowered evasion.

The furious dragon type mercilessly took off into the sky, her entire body becoming engulfed in a golden aura. Taking a moment to charge up to full power, Altaria let out a battle cry, crashing towards the ground with all of her strength. "RIAAA!"

"Launch yourself into the air with Vine Whip!" The teen exclaimed with a clenched fist.

"Bay!" Bayleef exuded two vines from her neck, pushing onto the ground with impressive force, sending her rather heavy body straight into the air.

'What's he up to?' The older male questioned himself. "Altaria, be careful!" The dragon type would have heard her trainer's plea, had it not been for her unrelenting rage as well as her altitude preventing her from hearing it.

"Now's our chance! Bayleef, dodge the attack and grab her!"

"Impossible! There's no way she can do that in midair!" Nando stated in disbelief, his worries not being calmed even the slightest by his opponent's grin.

"Oh don't worry about that," Ash said as he mindlessly tightened his gloves. "Bayleef here is known for being unique for her kind in more ways than one."

True to his word, the grass type used her momentum in the air to spin past the blazing bird, before using her vines to latch onto her opponent. The dragon flailed in her grip, but to no avail as Bayleef's hold on her was unbreakable. Then, the grass type stared into her opponent's eyes, before smiling kindly as she saw the fear in Altaria's eyes.

"Now! Body Slam!" The raven haired teen exclaimed, raising a fist into the air as Nando could only look on, helpless.

Bayleef immediately flung the dragon type from her grip, sending the angry pokemon barreling straight into the ground. Then, the grass type launched herself belly first, making contact with her still recovering opponent, sending them both into a crater created by the impact, dust flying everywhere and smoke filling the arena.

"Altaria!" Nando exclaimed fearfully as he shielded his vision from the harsh dust.

The dust soon dissipated, showing the end result for the whole stadium to see; a softly panting Bayleef standing in front of an unconscious Altaria.

"Altaria is unable to battle! Bayleef is the winner! Nando, please send out your next pokemon!"

"Return, Altaria. When this battle is finished I will make sure to thoroughly clean your pelt," Nando stated with a small smile, returning the dragon type before pulling out his next poke ball and sending it onto the field. "Lopunny my friend, let's battle!"

The bi-pedal normal type pokemon made her appearance, smiling for a second before adopting a serious expression, putting her palms up in a fighting stance. "Lopunny!"

"Bayleef vs Lopunny! Nando has the first move! Battle, begin!" The referee announced, throwing down his flags once again.

"Let us begin with Quick Attack!" Nando ordered. Lopunny began to sprint towards her opponent, while her body was outlined in a white aura.

"Stop her in her tracks with Energy Ball!" Ash retaliated. Bayleef began to charge the grass type attack, before feeling the wind leave her as Lopunny jabbed a fist into her gut. Growling, the grass type grabbed her opponent and slammed her into the ground, attempting to attack again only to get kicked in the face. Stumbling back, Bayleef slapped the normal type with one of her vines, before pushing her to the ground with Take Down. Angered, Lopunny proceeded to kick the grass type off of her again, before striking the slower pokemon with an uppercut, sending her flailing before she landed in front of her trainer.

"What speed," Ash commented. "But no matter, we may be slower but we sure as hell aren't weaker! Bayleef, Petal Blizzard!"

The Johto started rose up with a scowl, her eyes seemingly glowing as a plethora of leaves were released from the leaves on her neck, creating a giant wave of razor sharp blades going straight towards her opponent.

"Evade the leaves with Double Team!" Making multiples copies of herself, Lopunny as well as her clones used their superior speed and aerodynamics to sidestep, cartwheel, as well as flip past each leave with astonishing skill, leaving a clear gap to attack. "Now capitalize with Ice Punch!" In a flash, the normal type charged her opponent with a fist incased in ice, before leaping into the air like a spring, performing a twirl that was clearly learned from coordinating, and using her nimble weight to throw herself into the face of the grass type, bashing her repeatedly with chilling strikes and punches, dealing incredible super effective damage.

"Bayleef, no!" The raven haired teen exclaimed in worry, his heart clenching as he heard his beloved grass type cry out in pain. That is until his eyes widened, seeing the familiar glow surround Bayleef's body!

"Bay...LEEF!" Bayleef exclaimed loudly, her body glowing in a red aura, before she threw herself at Lopunny head first, dealing an excruciatingly painful blow that sent the normal type spiraling towards her trainer's side of the battlefield. But that wasn't all, as the grass type let out a roar, while the blood red energy surrounding her body became pure white, her neck becoming longer, the leaves on her neck becoming beautiful flowers, and her skin tone becoming a much more modest shade of green. "Meganium!"

"No way!" Ash exclaimed in excitement. "Not only did you use Counter, you also evolved!" His excitement paused when he noticed Lopunny rise up slowly, bruised and battered but still standing tall.

"Congratulations Ash, I'd commend you for you pokemon's evolution, but we need to finish this battle first," Nando said with a confident smile.

"Lopunny, Dizzy Punch!" The normal type responded at a rapid pace, once again taking off towards her now larger opponent, her fist showing small ducks surrounding it.

"Counter that with Vine Whip!" Meganium exuded four vines instead of two, using her newly enhanced strength to block her opponent's punches, before slapping the normal type with her vines once more, sending Lopunny to the ground. Having had enough of getting hit by vines, Lopunny rose up quickly, using her still superior speed to quickly make her way to her opponent, before hopping into the air, her knee glowing in white aura.

'That's High Jump Kick! If that lands, then Meganium won't be able to take any more hits!' Ash realized instantly, wracking his brain to formulate a plan. Suddenly, an imaginary light bulb appeared above his head. 'That's it!'

"Use your vines to grab her other leg!" The grass type sent her vines towards her opponent, attempting to wrap them around one of her legs, only to be meet with fierce resistance as Lopunny struggled to get the tight vines off of her. Deciding to just let the attack go, the normal type used all of her weight to fling herself at her opponent, surprising Meganium as she was met with a powerful knee striking her under the chin. The attack would have sent her flying, had it not been for the tight grip she had on Lopunny's leg, which actually brought the normal type along for the ride, causing for the both of them to meet the ground painfully, creating another plume of dust.

"Meganium!"

"Lopunny!"

The referee struggled to get a good look at the two pokemon at first, but when there was finally a decent enough view, he made the call. "Meganium and Lopunny are both unable to battle! Trainers, please send out your next pokemon!"

The two trainers returned their respective pokemon with equal amounts of praise, before sending out their next ones, these being Ash's fourth as well as Nando's fifth.

"Glalie, let's go!"

"Sunflora my friend let us battle!"

Both of the aforementioned pokemon appeared facing one another, with one floating and the other standing. Glalie simply grinned, while Sunflora gave off a cry of excitement.

"Sunflora vs Glalie! Ash has the first move! Battle begin!"

"Glalie, start this off with Ice Beam!" Ash commanded with a small grin happy that he has gotten the lead. The face pokemon shot out a beam of chilling ice type energy, keen on landing a good hit on his opponent.

"Weaken the attack with Sunny Day!" Was the immediate reply. The grass type released an orange ball of energy into the sky, effectively created a harsh sunlight that illuminated the battlefield, severely weakening Glalie's attack, along with all of his ice type moves in general.

"No problem! Change to Gyro Ball, Glalie!" The ice type began to spin, quickly picking up speed as he began to barrel towards his opponent, a silver sheen surrounding his round body.

"Deter him with Leech Seed!" Nando ordered. Sunflora released multiple seeds from his mouth, each of them separating and sprouting vines while simultaneously wrapping around Glalie's body, glowing a dark red as they sapped the ice type's health little by little.

"Use Ice Beam while you're close!" The raven haired teen grunted, annoyed that his pokemon was losing health by the second.

"GLALIE!" The face pokemon roared, launching the powerful ice type attack once more, though the damage was slightly lacking due to the previous Sunny Day. Sunflora clearly recoiled from the super effective attack, though that didn't stop it from striking the ice type with a Cut attack, doing some good damage from the way Glalie winced.

"Since Glalie is so close, use Grasswhistle!" The grass type complied, grabbing one of its leaves and beginning to play a peaceful tune.

"Get out of there!" Ash tried to warn his pokemon, but he was too late as the ice type dropped to the floor the moment the attack was called. "Damn it!" He cursed as Glalie laid unmoving. "Glalie buddy, please you've got to wake up!"

Unfortunately for Ash, Glalie made no motion that he heard his trainer's desperate call, continuing to snore. Sunflora approached the sleeping pokemon, before looking up at its trainer to make his move.

"Terribly sorry Ash, but this is the game we play. Sunflora, Solar Beam!" Nando commanded, glad that the Sunny Day was still up. The grass type used the mighty power from the sun to charge up his attack, before letting it rip onto his opponent, doing enough damage to even wake him up. Glalie merely groaned loudly in his sleep, before slowly opening his menacing looking eyes, shakily rising up from the powerful attack.

"Oh, thank goodness you can still fight, Glalie!" The teen said in relief, before his eyes widened in anguish.

"Glalie!" The ice type roared in determination, before his eyes went blank, as he fell forwards on his back, the previous Leech Seed having sapped the last of his energy he had left.

"Glalie is unable to battle! Sunflora is the winner! Ash, please send out your next pokemon!"

"Damn it, you went out too soon, Glalie. I'm sorry," Ash uttered shamefully to his ice type, who tried his best to console his trainer even in his tired state. "I promise this won't be your last stand, Glalie. You can count on that!"

"Glalie..." The face pokemon hummed in happiness, before giving in to his unconsciousness. It was an incredible play that took Ash by surprise, definitely. He returned Glalie back to his belt and began to go into deep thought. He had two pokemon left. They were both weak to this Sunflora, who could put them both to sleep with ease. Just what was he going to do? Sighing as he knew he didn't have much time to ponder about this, he grabbed one of his remaining capsules for the match and threw it on to the battlefield with only one thought in mind. 'I promised my pokemon that we'd win without a doubt. I won't let them down, nor will I let my friends and family down! I am Ash Ketchum, the future winner of the Sinnoh League! And no one is going to stop me!'

"Donphan! Let's do this!" The bulky ground type appeared once more, roaring in excitement before beginning to roll around the battlefield. "Roo!"

"Donphan vs Sunflora! Nando has the first move! Battle, begin!"

"Sunflora, begin with Leech Seed!" The grass type again sprouted seeds with vines growing out of them, intent on doing the same tactic as last battle.

"We're not falling for that twice! Donphan, crush those seeds with Rollout!" The armadillo pokemon took off inside his shell, blazing past the seeds while also stomping them when he got the chance. Now that he was close, Donphan tackled the grass type into the ground, pleased when his opponent cried out in pain. He added more pressure to the attack, noticing how Sunflora screamed out in more pain.

'Huh, it seems that this Sunflora has very low defense but high special defense. I noticed that it took Glalie's Ice Beam without much of a sweat, even though it was under Sunny Day that attack still should have hurt it. A physical beast like Donphan is a perfect counter to this pokemon!' Ash concluded to himself, snapping his fingers. "Keep up the pressure, hold Sunflora down!"

"Keep him off you with Razor Leaf!" Nando countered. The sun pokemon attempted to fire razor sharp leaves towards its opponents, only to find out that it couldn't move due to its nimble body being squished by Donphan's superior weight. Sunflora flailed around, trying as hard as possible to escape from the ground type pokemon's grip, but to no avail: it just wasn't strong enough. Nando could only grit his teeth as his pokemon was immobile and unable to escape.

"Now use Take Down!" Ash commanded with a clenched, going for blood. The armadillo pokemon released the grass type, giving his opponent only a split second of relief before he charged straight into Sunflora's stomach, sending his opponent straight into the stadium wall.

Donphan continued to approach the grass type, seeing if it was still standing or not. Suddenly, the ground type was blasted with a powerful Energy Ball from the other side of the stadium, being blasted back towards his side of the battlefield. Sunflora was shown walking slowly out of the hole it was impaled into, growling and breathing heavily. It seemed that the smaller pokemon was still able to fight, that is until the grass type began to shake slightly, before losing consciousness.

"Sunflora is unable to battle! Donphan is the winner! Nando, please send out your final pokemon!"

"Sunflora, thank you so much for your hard work. I couldn't be more pleased with your performance. Take a good rest, friend." Nando returned his grass type with a supporting smile, before facing his opponent, his last poke ball in his palm. "Well Ash, I thank you for giving me such a great battle, and I hope that you give my ace a good fight." He gave off a challenging grin, which his opponent matched with his own.

"Same, man. I hope that this continues to be as fun as it already has," Ash replied with an eager grin, as his hulking ground type roared in excitement as well, though clearly panting.

"Very well then. Kricketune my friend, let us battle!" Nando exclaimed releasing his ace as well as his partner pokemon who appeared in all of his glory, putting up his arm blades in battle ready formation. "Delelele wooop!"

"Donphan vs Kricketune! Ash has the first move! Battle, begin!"

"Let's begin with a Rollout!" The ground type rolled up into a ball once more, stampeding all the way to his new opponent, eager to get some good damage going.

"Stop him with Bug Buzz!" Nando exclaimed as he softly strummed his harp. The bug type pokemon began to buzz in a very abrasive and annoying manner, making an irate noise that rattled Donphan's senses, making him stop completely and groan. "Now that he's recoiling go for X-Scissor!" Kricketune followed up on his previous attack, crossing his two arm blades across his chest before slashing his opponent repeatedly with bright green bug type energy radiating off of his blades.

Donphan, being the bulky tank that he is, is expected to not take much damage from this attack, though currently was groaning in intense pain as the sharp blades sliced and irritated his rough skin. Having had enough of this onslaught, the ground type used his tusks to try to swat the bug type away, only to be taken by surprise as Kricketune swiftly avoided all of his attempts, before going back to slashing him like it was nothing.

"Damn it, this Kricketune sure is persistent. Hang in there Donphan! Try to find an opening and create some space between you two!" Ash stated in assurance, unsure of what he could do at this very moment.

Suddenly, Nando grew a slight smirk on his face. Ash had no clue why he had that expression until he heard his opponent utter two heart wrenching words. "Finish it."

Without any sort of warning, Kricketune let out a loud cry, hitting Donphan extra hard with a Cut attack which sent the ground type into the battlefield floor, before dancing a very specific dance with swords surrounding him, then charging at his opponent with one blade charged with bug type aura, before beginning to slash Donphan relentlessly once more, though this time each hit hurt more than the last.

"No! Donphan!" Ash cried out in worry, helpless in this situation. After seemingly the fourth hit, Donphan seemed to not be able to take any more, falling over with multiple slashing across his back.

"Donphan is unable to battle! Kricketune is the winner! Ash, please send out your final pokemon!"

Sighing to himself, Ash returned Donphan with words of encouragement before pulling out his final poke ball. This was it. It was do or die at this point. He had no doubt that this pokemon would win the match for him, he knew it one hundred percent. In his mind, in his soul, in his heart.

"Crawdaunt! I choose you!" The newly evolved water/dark crustacean appeared with a fierce war cry, before getting into a battle stance, holding his large claws in front of him in confidence. He had evolved when watching Ash train, just like Quilava. The difference with him however, was that he had dropped his silly attitude and adopted a more fierce and battle hungry one. He narrowed his eyes at his opponent, having no mercy to give.

"Final battle! Crawdaunt vs Kricketune! Nando has the first move! Battle, begin!" The referee announced, throwing the flag for what would be the last time for the day.

"Kricketune, approach with X-Scissor!" The bug type made his way towards his opponent, feeling slightly confused when the water type didn't even flinch.

It was only until the bug pokemon got close, did Ash made his command. "Catch it." True to his word, Crawdaunt simply put his giant claw out and grabbed Kricketune's arm like it was nothing, keeping a sharp grip on it as well. "Now, Crunch!"

Crawdaunt's claw became pitch black, ensnaring Kricketune's appendage in a painful crunch, effectively making the bug cry out in intense pain.

Nando was speechless. He was in utter disbelief that his strongest pokemon was getting handled so easily, by a pokemon that was a dark type, weak to bug.

Seeing that his opponent wasn't making a move, Ash did it for him. "Crawdaunt, let him go." The crustacean make a face that pretty much said 'Do I have to?' before complying and letting Kricketune go, the bug type howling in pain as he held his arm. "Now, finish this with a Crabhammer and Pursuit combo!" The water dark type immediately did as told, becoming a dark shadow and creeping behind his opponent, poking his back to make him look one way, then dipping forward and making him look the other way, before picking up speed and making the bug type completely confused to the point of dizziness. Watching his opponent circle around in a daze, Crawdaunt merely shrugged and bonked him on the head with the powerful water type attack, watching as Kricketune fell over in defeat. Shrugging, the crustacean crossed his arms, kicking some dust on his opponent's back.

"Kricketune is unable to battle! Crawdaunt is the winner! Since Nando has no more pokemon available to battle, the match goes to Ash!" The referee announced as the audience applauded the two trainers, extremely happy to have seen such an intense fight. And even though the ending of it was a little anticlimactic, it was still an fight to watch.

Nando stared down at his partner, unconsciousness, before picking him up and smiling. "Thank you, friend, you've done so well. I appreciate your effort. And though I would have preferred a different result, this one is just fine." He looked up to see Ash standing in front of him with his hand out, a big smile on his face. The older male smiled as well, taking the other trainer's hand as the audience applauded once more for the great showing of sportsmanship and kindness between the two trainers.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ash now stood in his room, staring at the six pokemon he used in the battle versus Nando. Most of them were wearing bandages, though Crawdaunt was just standing there unfazed. "Well guys, we did it. And even though it was a close match, I couldn't have been any more happy at how that battle went. Thank you guys so much for agreeing to come help me out," Ash said with a big smile as the six pokemon approached him and gave him their own bouts of affection, though some were more "overbearing" than others. He laughed it off though, as he returned all of his pokemon and got ready for bed. After putting on his pajamas and tucking Sapphire in, Ash took two poke balls from his belt and silently released them onto the floor, as he had something to talk about with two of his pokemon.

He hadn't said anything about it, but Ash had noticed how Bulbasaur and Glalie were very hesitant to show any emotion after they had won the match. Deciding now was the time to let it be known, he crouched down to the two. "Hey guys, I know that those battles may not have gone your way, but I promise you that this battle will be anything but the last time I use you guys in battles. I love you both too much to take away the love of battling from you." He grinned when the two perked up slightly at his words. "And trust me, I know that with our training regime, you two will become even better than you already are. It's a promise." He held out his fist, smiling when a vine and spike both made contact with it. "Thanks you guys, now it's almost time for Top 8. I won't let anyone take this opportunity away from me. It's my destiny, and my dream! I will try my hardest, and I will succeed! No matter what!"

"Look out everyone, cause Ash Ketchum is coming your way!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

So how was it?

Tell me what you think.

Well guys, there's the battle. Sorry if it was sped up but I really had a small amount of time to write this. But anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed, since Top 8 is next, and woah is it going to be different.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.